By Abigail Mbah
OneHealth is turning to artificial intelligence to help tackle Nigeria’s widening healthcare access gap, as the country faces a shortage of pharmacists, with just one pharmacist available for every 13,385 people.
The digital-first pharmacy and healthcare company is expanding access to Lumina, its AI-powered health assistant, through a nationwide creator contest designed to introduce more Nigerians to the platform.
According to a Digital Health Africa analysis, Nigeria’s pharmacist-to-population ratio remains far below the World Health Organization’s recommended ratio of one pharmacist to 2,000 people.
Lumina operates entirely through WhatsApp, allowing users to ask health-related questions without downloading an app or creating a separate account.
The service can provide information on medications, help users identify suitable healthcare products, facilitate orders and connect them with licensed pharmacists or doctors when human intervention is required.
OneHealth said the initiative is designed to make reliable health information more accessible, particularly at times when immediate access to a healthcare professional may be difficult.
“The contest is about getting more Nigerians to actually know Lumina exists,” said Adeola Alli, Founder and CEO of OneHealth.
“We opened it up beyond students because the questions Lumina answers aren’t a campus-only problem; they’re every Nigerian’s problem.”
The company said Lumina also supports its Màámi maternal and sexual health initiative, while its wider digital healthcare ecosystem includes an online pharmacy, PillFinda wholesale marketplace, Pillmova logistics, The Method weight-management programme and Imani wearable breast pump.
Following the creator contest, OneHealth plans to take Lumina directly to campuses, including the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos, building on its existing community health outreach.
Alli stressed that the technology is not intended to replace healthcare professionals but to provide Nigerians with an accessible first point of contact for everyday health questions.
“We’re not trying to replace a doctor or a pharmacist. We’re trying to make sure that whatever a person’s very first health question is, whatever it’s about, they have somewhere reliable, free and immediate to take it,” she said.
The Lumina Creator Contest is open to Nigerians nationwide, while OneHealth is also seeking partnerships with universities, student bodies, NGOs and corporate organisations for future health and technology outreach.